Oh! So much to talk about. First, I wonder (as Kelsey said in the episode rant/raves), *why* were they in the Kodak Theatre? Though, I have to admit it was cool to see 3,000 people there for the first half of the finale (and even cooler to have a good portion of those folks chanting Evan’s name). So overall? NOT a fan of Louis van Amstel’s work this season and worried that the judges are jumping the shark a little with how much steam the show’s picking up. Nigel’s turning into a major perv (was he always this bad, someone remind me), Mary’s not speaking nearly as eloquently as she can, in favor of screaming. While I loved that Adam could call the Tony and Melanie jive not finale appropriate, I hated that NO ONE said anything about the overproduction of Louis van Amstel’s paso doble. And then there is the moment that angered me mightily, as pointed out very well by Johnny Mar (again in the rant/raves post). Brandon reused his audition piece last week and got a standing O and not one of the judges mentioned that it’s his audition piece. Evan revisits his audition this week, varying it a bit, and Adam Shankman calls him on it. That is not cool. That being said, there were some moments and routines I *adored* tonight and I can’t wait for tomorrow’s show. And…next season after that phenomenal, heart-thumping preview (though I could do without the last image).

1. Jeanine – I want her to win and I really think it’s hers this season. Here’s why. Simply put: she’s the best combination of pure talent and that nebulous “personality” factor: it’s so easy to love watching her move. I can’t look away from her! Classy and funny, supportive of her partners and very gracious in dealing with criticism and the now multiple perv comments from Nigel. Plus, the girls have been stronger than the boys by far this season, so I think it needs to be a female winner. Jeanine’s peaking at the right time, as the judges say and had an amazing night. Though, I will say that the lighting and the volume of the music during Louis van Amstel’s paso doble was so distracting I had to try to ignore them in order to focus on the dancing. I had to *ignore the music* to focus on the dancing. Bizarre. It was phenomenal dancing, once you could get past the DRAMA!!!! of the routine’s production. I feel like Mia put Jeanine in the back too much in her routine with Kayla, especially given the length of Kayla’s limbs. But she stood out to me and just rocked it. I loved seeing her and Evan dance together and I think they enjoyed each other a lot. And her solo. HELLO! That slow, controlled pirouette. She incorporated so much of her growth during the entire season in her solo, which I think was a textbook example of what a “end of the line, all I’ve got” solo. A-m-a-z-i-n-g.

2. Kayla – She’s been amazing all season, technically superior to most everybody and finally relaxing enough to show her personality. Kayla’s had some incredible routines tonight. I thought her solo was the weakest, but really enjoyed that her song choice allowed for some different movements than she’s shown during most of her solos. The Broadway with Brandon was awesome and you could tell that she just really enjoys dancing with him, trusts him and his technical ability. Not so much with Evan, though there were some strong moments in it. I really enjoyed her in Mia’s contemporary, which was just a beautiful concept that both the girls executed beautifully. You could tell that they were bringing a lot of the emotions of their SYTYCD experience to it and I think Kayla really lived the piece and showed exactly why everybody loves her lines and extension so much. I don’t think she showed as much ‘tude as Jeanine in Wade’s cheerleader/football player routine, but she was definitely strong.

Here’s the hard part. Sigh.

3. Evan – According to the results so far on John’s poll, he should be #4. And maybe he will be. The only reason I bumped him up is that enormous chant that seemed to surprise everybody, him most of all. And you know Ryan wasn’t behind it, because it started waaaaaaaay back in the audience, not near Evan’s family. 🙂 I will be the first to admit that Evan is, in many ways, especially technically, the most limited dancer, the one who’s “grown” the least during the season. He was rock solid in Broadway at the beginning of the season and he’s still demonstrating rock solidness…in Broadway. He doesn’t apply notes or encorporate other styles into his own, as the other dancers (and successful dancers of seasons past) do. However, all of that is really hard to care about when he dances. I’m tired of the judges’ condescending comments about the squishiness of his face because Evan is impossible not to enjoy (for me, for many others) when he dances. He’s the one my eyes go to. I really thought that he held his own in Wade’s and Sonya’s pieces and he was the one my eyes kept going toward during Lauriann Gibson’s piece (did anyone else HATE the song for a routine like this?), despite his lack of “nasty cred.” He struggles to take on characters outside his general persona onstage. However, I do think that he’s held his own or rocked in most of the routines he’s danced this season. And I love watching him move.

4. Brandon – I suspect that Nigel named him with Jeanine as the top 2 because Brandon is so technically strong and Nigel knows the same personality that Jackie and others have mentioned – on a more personal level, I suspect, than I do. I really liked Brandon’s interview, but I have to say he’s just my least favorite. As nice and supportive as he may be “in the real world,” I don’t personally feel like he gives good t.v. all the time. His ego (whether he’s confident or not confident, both are results of the ego) becomes too much of an issue in his dancing, I feel. Maybe this is only an issue when there’s a camera zooming in close on his face. I don’t know. I think he felt confortable with Natalie and it’s taken him the whole season to figure out how to be more comfortable in front of the camera. He’s a beautiful dancer, but I’m very apt to look more at his partner – whether that partner is a beautiful girl or a dancer not as technically strong as him, like Evan. I think he’s done extremely well on this show and grown so very much. I enjoyed watching him with Jeanine quite a lot, and in the Wade group routine. I did feel his solo was very frantic, as Adam said. Though, you know what? I *loved, loved, loved* his extended split at the end of his routine and his face, which just sort of announced, “Yeah, I’m doing this and it’s awesome.” That was a wonderful moment tonight for me, he was at his “cocky best” right then.

Time again to share your love for your favorite dancer. You’ve seen them all perform (if you’re on the east coast) and outlast all of the other dancers. So, the question just remains which of the SYTYCD top 4 will be America’s favorite dancer. Vote for your favorite and it will be interesting to see if readers of Pure SYTYCD can predict the actual winner of So You Think You Can Dance season 5.

We’re back to discuss the finale of So You Think You Can Dance season 5. Is anyone else as shocked as I am that we’re already at the finale of So You Think You Can Dance? That’s just absolutely unreal for me. Luckily, the Fall season of So You Think You Can Dance will be starting up soon. Although, I’m sure I’ll need the little break between seasons. Ok, enough about me. Let’s hear what you thought of the So You Think You Can Dance top 4 final dances? Let it all hang out. Don’t hold back. We’re all friends and welcome different opinions (even if they’re wrong…lol).

So You Think You Can Dance dipped its foot into the water of having a guest judge on the show. I wasn’t personally that impressed with Ellen, but my twitter stream seemed to really love them. I think Ellen finally got into a nice rhythm in the second half of the show and had some good jokes.

Turns out that now Paula Abdul might be available to be a judge on So You Think You Can Dance since Paula’s quite American Idol. Nigel has already acknowledged that he’d welcome her as a guest judge on SYTYCD: “We would certainly consider her as a guest judge,” Dance executive producer/judge Nigel Lythgoe told the New York Daily News. “Without question.” Nigel’s even suggested that Paula could come on SYTYCD as a choreographer which would be interesting as well. Personally, I’d be fine with Paula Abdul on SYTYCD, but I don’t really see her making the switch since SYTYCD still has far fewer viewers than American Idol. I guess we’ll see since Paula is better known for her dancing than her singing.

However, I think that So You Think You Can Dance should consider another guest judge. I think they need to find a guest judge that knows the show very well. Someone who is very familiar with the various dancers. Someone who relates to the fans very well and knows what gets the fans of SYTYCD excited. Fox needs to find a guest judge that understands and appreciates dance, but maybe isn’t necessarily too worried about ALL the technical details of the dance either. Someone who can judge similar to how America will pick “America’s Favorite Dancer.”

Ok, really I think they should just invite me to be a guest judge on the show. Would be really interesting no? Of course, it would probably be even more interesting if Fox held a competition between all the various SYTYCD bloggers and let the winner of the competition be a guest judge. Wouldn’t that be cool? Only problem is that after looking at what Fox did to ruin the So You Think You Can Dance website and forums, I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t be able to deliver on a promotion like this. However, I’m willing to offer my services if they need some help setting it up;-)

Time for one of the most popular posts I do. Here’s a list of the top music from this season of So You Think You Can Dance. You might ask how I know it’s the top music. Well, it’s not really scientific, but I basically base it off the number of times someone clicked on the iTunes link for that song. I think it’s a pretty good measure. We can discuss for a long time the star quality of the dancers and the level of choreography this season, but there’s no arguing that So You Think You Can Dance still rules with introducing a wide variety of interesting music. Take a look at Pure SYTYCD’s list of top So You Think You Can Dance music:

Tore My Heart by Oona (Free Download by Pure SYTYCD)
Falling Slowly by The Frames
Don’t Let Your Feet Touch Ground by Ash Koley
Untouched by The Veronicas
Breathe Me by Sia
Belief by Gavin DeGraw
Great DJ by The Ting Tings
Winter Song by Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson
Slow Me Down by Emmy Rossum
Jungle Drum by Emiliana Torrini
Make You Feel My Love by ADELE
Lost by Anouk
Moonburn by Craig Lyons
Nobody by Ne-Yo
Coldfront by Amie Miriello
Toxic by Yael Naïm
Pollen and Salt by Daphne Loves Derby
Walking On by Army of Me
Habanera by Kate Nash (This wasn’t actually on the show, but would have been if they had the rights to it. See Kelsea Taylor for more info)
Dance With Me by Old 97’s

I just wish I could take all of these songs and make a CD of this music. I think it would sell like hot cakes. As always, you can find the full list of SYTYCD music here.